Download .jpg (.5 MB)
Alabama Sturgeon.
Use by news for printing or display approved by artist.

Alabama Sturgeon To Receive
Federal Protection Under Endangered Species Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 2, 2000 Contact: Tom MacKenzie 404/ 679-7291

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today listed the Alabama
sturgeon, a rare fish of prehistoric origins, as endangered under the
Endangered Species Act. A species is listed as endangered when it is at
risk of extinction through all or a significant portion of its range.

The decision was largely based on the species' small population
size and inability to sustain a viable population. The Alabama sturgeon
has disappeared from approximately 85 percent of its historic range. Only
five Alabama sturgeon have been captured in the last four years despite
intensive efforts by Federal and State biologists. Two Alabama sturgeons,
both male, remain in captivity. The listing protects the Alabama sturgeon
from take including killing, harming, harassing, possessing, or removing
the species from the wild; requires Federal agencies to protect the species
and its habitat; and makes additional funding available to support recovery,
including grants to State conservation programs.

"After many months of careful review, consideration and
discussion of the best available scientific information and more than
4,000 public comments, and taking into account ongoing conservation efforts
by the State of Alabama and others, I am confident that listing the Alabama
sturgeon as endangered is the right decision," said Sam Hamilton, the
Service's regional director for the Southeast Region. "When a species
is as imperilled as the Alabama sturgeon, the Fish and Wildlife Service
is required by law to take action."

"We have worked closely with the community to protect this
fish and other resources of the Alabama-Tombigbee River Basin, and we've
listened closely to what people have had to say on this listing proposal,"
Hamilton said. "In the final analysis, we are required to go where the
science takes us, and the science tells us that this fish needs all the
protection it can get."

Of the more than 4,000 public comments that were submitted
on the March 1999 proposal to list the Alabama sturgeon and related issues,
those supporting the listing generally said there is no doubt that the
species is endangered and that the Endangered Species Act requires that
it be listed. Those opposing the listing expressed generally three categories
of concern - the potential that the listing would result in economic decline,
that current conservation actions are adequate to protect the fish, and
that questions remain over the status of the species.

"Concerns about economic decline on the Alabama and Tombigbee
Rivers as a result of listing the Alabama sturgeon are unfounded," said
Hamilton. "There are four protected aquatic species already in these rivers,
and negative economic impacts have not occurred. Putting the Alabama sturgeon
on the endangered species list will not change the status quo on these
rivers. Current activities, such as navigation channel dredging, hydroelectric
power production, agricultural and silvicultural will not be stopped."

The Service, for example, has worked with the Army Corps
of Engineers to address concerns about the potential effects of listing
the Alabama Sturgeon on navigation and other uses of the Alabama and Tombigbee
rivers. The Corps and the Service developed a written analysis, known
as a White Paper, that states that navigation channel maintenance, among
other activities, will not adversely affect the Alabama sturgeon.

Much has already been done for the conservation of the species.
In February, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources,
Alabama Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a Conservation Agreement and
Strategy for the species. The agreement will expedite measures needed
to ensure the Alabama sturgeon's existence and recovery.

"With the Conservation Agreement and Strategy in place we
have certainly taken a major step in the recovery process, but still we're
just starting. We absolutely need all of the original partners to continue
their good work and new partners to join us as we work to bring the Alabama
sturgeon back from the brink of extinction," Hamilton said.

The Alabama sturgeon is a slender, golden-yellow, freshwater
fish that was historically widespread in the Mobile River Basin of Alabama
and Mississippi. It grows to about 30 inches in length and weighs two
to three pounds. It was once so abundant it was caught and sold commercially.
Biologists attribute the decline of the species to over-fishing, loss
and fragmentation of its habitat due to navigation-related development,
and decline in water quality. Scientific evidence supports the Alabama
sturgeon as a distinct species. The American Society of Herpetologists
and Ichthyologists and the American Fisheries Society, both national scientific
organizations, recognize the Alabama sturgeon as a separate species.

The Service will designate critical habitat for the Alabama
sturgeon next year. Critical habitat is a term used in the Endangered
Species Act to refer to specific geographic areas that are essential for
the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require
special management considerations.

The Service will publish its decision to list the Alabama
sturgeon as an endangered species in the Federal Register on Friday, May 5.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System which encompasses more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands
of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates
66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers
the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds
of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.